Editorial: Eroding expectations for privacy

President Barack Obama, trying to reel in spiraling questions about just how far his administration will go to gather intelligence in the name of homeland security, on Friday said no one was listening to your phone conversations.

But, according to newly leaked details of classified work, the National Security Agency has secured court orders to cull phone records from millions of Americans to find out who they're calling, how often they're calling and for how long.

Trust us, Obama practically said. This is for your own good.

"I think it's important to recognize that you can't have 100 percent security and also then have 100 percent privacy and zero inconvenience," Obama said Friday afternoon. "We're going to have to make some choices as a society."

So what should our expectations for privacy be more than dozen years removed from the attacks of 9/11 and now weeks after fresh reminders of terrorism near the finish line at this year's Boston Marathon? And how much privacy do we expect in an era when we constantly feed our coordinates via a cellphone in a pocket or purse?

Obama let Americans know his view on Friday, folding his skepticism early in his administration. "We actually expanded some of the oversight, increased some of the safeguards. But my assessment and my team's assessment was that they help us prevent terrorist attacks. And the modest encroachments on privacy that are involved in getting phone numbers or duration (of calls) without a name attached and not looking at content, that on net it was worth us doing."

Modest encroachment.

Some congressional members dared to say out loud that you don't have anything to worry about if you're not doing anything wrong. But even those tipping to that view have to acknowledge just how creeped out everyday Americans are right about now, knowing that the expectations of privacy they held have eroded.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Editorial: Eroding expectations for privacy

President Barack Obama, trying to reel in spiraling questions about just how far his administration will go to gather intelligence in the name of homeland security, on Friday said no one was